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Homeland Security Axes Bush-Era 'Virtual Fence' Project
ABC ^ | January 14, 2011 12:49 PM | Jason Ryan

Posted on 01/14/2011 10:53:30 AM PST by TSgt

The Department of Homeland Security today officially scrapped a Bush-era program designed to use radar technology to detect illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a DHS official and a congressional source.

The project, called "Virtual Fence," was rolled out under the Bush administration in 2006 with much fanfare about how technology could help secure the border. Illegal immigrants crossing the border would be detected by a radar and picked up by remote cameras, which were monitored by border patrol agents.

But numerous internal and Congressional reviews found consistent performance problems with the project's systems, which only spanned 53 miles of the vast U.S.-Mexico border.

The cameras often provided blurry images, the radar system performed poorly in bad weather, and it often displayed false detections that were unable to distinguish between humans, cars and animals.

There were also cost overruns and the primary contractor, Boeing, repeatedly missed deadlines, officials said.

"The SBInet program has been a grave and expensive disappointment since its inception," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security committee, said in a statement.

The system is estimated to cost about $1 billion. If the entire project had been accepted and rolled out, its cost would have exceeded $6 billion.

"We know that we cannot continue to put out millions and millions of dollars of taxpayer's money if we're not confident that it's really not going to work,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who ordered a review of the program upon taking office, said in October.

DHS officials say the program will not be a total loss and that Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents will continue to use some of the systems that have been paid for.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: aliens; boeing; borders; napolitano; virtualfence
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To: bikerman

Where did i mention Wookies?


21 posted on 01/14/2011 11:28:20 AM PST by null and void (We are now in day 724 of our national holiday from reality. - 0bama really isn't one of US.)
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To: ColdOne
Of course they axed it. They need the votes.

And the GOP willing to help with that effort - AMNESTY is almost on its way.

Diaz-Balart: Immigration stance could limit GOP .By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ AP Hispanic Affairs Writer CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart says the Republican party can't appeal to the majority of Americans if it's perceived to be against immigration.

Jeb Bush urges Hispanic outreach for GOP
22 posted on 01/14/2011 11:31:37 AM PST by Cheerio (Barry Hussein Soetoro-0bama=The Complete Destruction of American Capitalism)
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To: TSgt

how about every deportee gets to stop by and lay brick fer a day, from the other side of course ???


23 posted on 01/14/2011 11:35:57 AM PST by Gilbo_3 (Gov is not reason; not eloquent; its force.Like fire,a dangerous servant & master. George Washington)
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To: TSgt

The JACKASSES claimed we didn’t need a real fence since we could ‘build’ a “virtual fence”. Congress approved a real fence but DUmocrats defunded it (still in the law to be built so they are in violation of their own law - no suprises there) and now the “virtual” fence is out, so we know what comes next....Hello AMNESTY!


24 posted on 01/14/2011 11:46:51 AM PST by RasterMaster (The only way to open a LIEberal mind is with a brick!)
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To: TSgt

So the real fence has been discontinued. The virtual fence has been discontinued . . . We’re pretty much back to where we were before our Ruling Class pretended to be interested in border security in order to secure an amnesty bill.


25 posted on 01/14/2011 11:53:39 AM PST by ModelBreaker
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To: LachlanMinnesota
The fence was bravo sierra from the beginning, and only designed to claim coverage by a manner that made the average citizen unable to verify that “Coverage.” It was only a matter of time before they stopped the pretense. It is being used now to garner votes.

Precisely.
26 posted on 01/14/2011 11:54:42 AM PST by arderkrag (Georgia is God's Country.----------In the same way Rush is balance, I am consensus.)
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To: org.whodat

Details, please.


27 posted on 01/14/2011 11:57:23 AM PST by savedbygrace (But God.)
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To: TSgt
"The SBInet program has been a grave and expensive disappointment since its inception"

Pretty much sums up EVERYTHING the government creates and/or puts their grubby little hands in.
28 posted on 01/14/2011 12:28:46 PM PST by Lucky9teen (Jobs? Nope! Economy? Nope! Disarm the U.S? Yep! Impeach the treasonous Marxist Muslim usurper bast)
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To: TSgt
We will all know our government has finally gotten serious about a border fence when they allocate funds to build a fence like this along the southern border:

BTY, that fence is in Israel. Not only do they know how to profile airplane passengers, they obviously know how to build a fence.

29 posted on 01/14/2011 12:29:36 PM PST by upchuck (When excerpting please use the entire 300 words we are allowed. No more one or two sentence posts!)
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To: upchuck
With the current administration, that tower would be on the south side of the wall with barrels pointed INTO America.

Once their socialism runs out of money, they will need to keep the serfs IN.

30 posted on 01/14/2011 12:43:55 PM PST by Michael Barnes
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To: LachlanMinnesota

Always follow the money and or potential voters for abortion loving candidate (Just remember what recent President has a abortion loving mother ;^)


31 posted on 01/14/2011 12:59:08 PM PST by investigateworld (Buy Ammo!)
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To: TSgt

NOW is the time to build the real fence from Gulf to shining sea.


32 posted on 01/14/2011 1:07:09 PM PST by runninglips (Don't support the Republican party, work to "fundamentally change" it...conservative would be nice)
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To: TSgt

Help Texas watch her borders per live cam border watch:

http://www.texasborderwatch.com/

Easy sign up. 12- 14 live cams- even night cams.
I have caught and reported numerous illegals.


33 posted on 01/14/2011 1:19:13 PM PST by patriot08 (TEXAS GAL- born and bred and proud of it!)
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To: TSgt
Wait, this virtual fence crap was only 53 miles long? If my calculations are right, it will take 145 years for them to have finished it.

I know Bush wasn't concerned about building an actual fence, but this virtual fence crap, 53 miles. Somebody got rich off that, I can't say that right now.
34 posted on 01/14/2011 2:07:44 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: upchuck

As Glenn Beck put it so well.

A virtual fence works as good as a virtual condom.

And while that is exactly the type of fence that should go up on our southern border, instead of wasting over a billion dollars on a useless pork project like the virtual fence, there is no way something like that will ever get built on the Mexican border. It would be stalled by decades of “environmental impact studies”, human and animal rights activists, and corporate lobbyists whose benefactors profit from the illegal alien labor.


35 posted on 01/14/2011 2:12:57 PM PST by Proud_USA_Republican ("The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.")
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To: savedbygrace
Bush only signed it. The project was the brainchild of the two Senators from Texas, IIRC. Certainly, K Bailey was the first, filing the bill within hours of the original fence bill being passed.

Rick Perry was a huge fan of this virtual border crap. He spent millions of taxpayer dollars on webcams to guard the border. He did have some success though - I believe one person was caught as a result of those webcams, and I can't speak for all Texans, but I slept better at nights knowing that Perry's webcams were guarding the border.

Honestly, it would not surprise me if this was the brainchild of Texas' Senators with Perry tossing in his two cents. There is a lot of money that flows from developers and their lobbyists into the pockets of politicians. Governor Perry's biggest donor is one of the biggest developers in the state. Developers and home builders need a fairly open border to keep up the labor supply.

It's not hard to figure out why the US government has dragged its feet on securing the borders in the wake of 9/11. Lot of RINO politicians take a lot of money from developers and builders. When Obama took office, I didn't expect things to change - I expected them to leave the border as open as possible.
36 posted on 01/14/2011 2:16:04 PM PST by af_vet_rr
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To: All; TSgt
The virtual fence project never seemed viable but *what* is Napolitano proposing to do to secure the border in place of this project?

This is more bad news for Boeing who have had plenty of trouble with their 787.

37 posted on 01/14/2011 3:00:43 PM PST by newzjunkey
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To: af_vet_rr

When I said it was their brainchild, I didn’t mean they thought up with their own brains, just that some powerful people with big brains did it and gave it to them to pass through Congress.


38 posted on 01/14/2011 4:28:29 PM PST by savedbygrace (But God.)
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To: ColdOne

Someone on this forum back in the Bush days had a tag line that said “Why isn’t there a virtual fence around the White House!? It’s still a highly relevant question.


39 posted on 01/14/2011 4:33:10 PM PST by Hardastarboard (Bringing children to America without immigration documents is child abuse. Let's end it.)
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To: Cheerio

>Former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart says the Republican party can’t appeal to the majority of Americans if it’s perceived to be against immigration...

Well, shes right - look at the ass whipping we just took in the mid terms.

Oh, wait...


40 posted on 01/14/2011 4:44:17 PM PST by bill1952 (Choice is an illusion created between those with power - and those without)
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